JasonL wrote:I was wondering if he'd jump off a bridge with cultural shame

He might. Either way, I kind of doubt that Philip and Elizabeth are going to get what they were hoping for from this operation.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

I admire their balls in killing Frank Gaad. I don't know if the plot that this sets in motion will be any good, but I admire them for deciding that they don't need the character and won't keep using him, unlike what they did with Nina for so long. And the scenes with Matt and Kimmie actually worked well for what the writers wanted to do.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Looking at the previews for next week, the decision to make Don think that "Patty" is pregnant is actually pretty clever. If she just threatened to tell his wife unless he cooperates, maybe he would commit suicide or confess or something. But the baby, and the promise of an abortion, ups the ante. If he doesn't comply then besides the ruin of his marriage there is a kid that he's responsible for. If he commits suicide he leaves behind 4 children who need provision, not 3. OTOH, if he complies then "Patty" will have an abortion and destroy the (fictitious) evidence of their encounter, so he gets some security if he complies just this one time.

It's really the perfect manipulation.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

The scene with Martha's father felt like a missed opportunity. The writers have done a lot of great things this season, but far too little happened in that scene with Martha's father.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

So, I guess they'll discover the bug, and then watch to see who grabs the recording, and that will reveal some previously undiscovered mole in the FBI. That's what the preview for next week implies.

The operation with Don surprised me. They gambled on a lot of pieces falling into place. But I guess it will get them enough for their scientist guy to get into Level 4.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

That was an interesting episode. I like that Paige seemed to accept her mother's toughness after she explained that she grew up in a city devastated by WWII and she wanted to be as strong for her country as the people who defended her city were. That, more than any other scene, really treats Elizabeth's motives as more than just jingoistic patriotism or buying into ideology. She might say things about making the world a better place or whatever for the cause of Soviet Communism, but what it comes down to is that she grew up as a patriotic Russian girl who saw what her country's Greatest Generation had done, and she wanted to serve. I can respect that.

I also find it interesting that both Oleg and William are unable to stomach the spread of bioweapons. That is just as human as Elizabeth's passion.

Paige is becoming quite the spy whether she likes it or not, starting a romance with Matthew Beeman to learn more about his father. I like that Philip and Elizabeth are BOTH appropriately horrified. Elizabeth might be a patriotic Russian woman who is willing to seduce for the good of her country, but she doesn't want Paige going down that road.

I suspect that William will NOT be captured alive by the FBI. Either he'll get away clean, or he'll die (by one means or another) but he will NOT be taken captive. I'm pretty sure that they would never do prisoner exchange with a Directorate S agent. They'd torture him to get him to give up everyone he knows in Directorate S. By the time they didn't need him anymore he would have betrayed Russia so many times that there'd be no way for him to go back.

Something interesting is going to happen with the Mail Robot. I don't think this is just a way to tie up a loose end. Whatever Soviet agent is manipulating the FBI maintenance worker, that person will be more than just some random embassy functionary who gets sent home. Something significant will happen in that storyline next week. This seasons has been really good at giving us payoff on storylines.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

The preview for next week's episode gave away way too much, especially after reading your comments, T

I think they've more or less fleshed out Elizabeth's motivation before, but she's never directly articulated to anyone, and especially not her daughter.

What they haven't fleshed out yet it Elizabeth's internal compartmentalization of what bringing Paige into the family business actually entails. And *everything* it entails. Elizabeth has always be for bringing Paige into the fold, and Philip against, but only now does Elizabeth seems to see the potential personal cost to her daughter of treading the same path as Elizabeth - a real blind spot for Elizabeth, but perhaps understandable? In a pop psychology PSTD sense?

when you wake up as the queen of the n=1 kingdom and mount your steed non sequiturius, do you look out upon all you survey and think “damn, it feels good to be a green idea sleeping furiously?" - dhex

I liked the name of this episode (They've all been thematically appropriate). This is the episode that finally pulled the trigger on a gun that's been loaded for years and cocked all season. Trigger is of course, Roy Rogers' horse.

when you wake up as the queen of the n=1 kingdom and mount your steed non sequiturius, do you look out upon all you survey and think “damn, it feels good to be a green idea sleeping furiously?" - dhex

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Based on the preview, we know that they capture William. So Stan has successfully busted a Directorate S officer with help from Oleg. In Stan's mind, he has gotten as much as he could hope for from Oleg, and I don't think he wants Oleg on his conscience. But I predict that tonight (perhaps in the last scene) somebody will tell Stan that he needs to keep pushing Oleg for even more, and this will set up a story arc that will lead to Stan's utter disillusionment in the final two seasons.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Oleg burned bridges like he was trying to stop a Nazi advance over the Volga.

That space on the couch could inspire its own cosmonaut program.

This show's season finales always leave loose ends, so I can't really complain they're doing it again with the 'will they bolt or won't they?' (They won't)

I'd probably rather have a beer on my deathbed than a Coke.

I like how he called out Philip and Elizabeth from his deathbed without actually calling them out.

This year's in memoriam is quite the list. But maybe not above average? Martha got out, but John boy didn't. Neither did alcoholic defense contractor lady. But who knew that South African dude would still be a thing? Or Kimmie?

when you wake up as the queen of the n=1 kingdom and mount your steed non sequiturius, do you look out upon all you survey and think “damn, it feels good to be a green idea sleeping furiously?" - dhex

I kind of wanted more. But it's good to know that Russia has its own chapter of Afghan Vets For Peace.

I like how they did Henry's hair and makeup to play up the resemblance to Mikhail Junior. I can't wait to see Henry's reaction when he finds out that he has an older brother who's a paratrooper.

I am surprised that they didn't try to bribe William with some all-you-can-shoot morphine.

And sending Arkady Ivanovich back to Russia is the biggest dick move ever. Not by the US government in the show but by the writers. Arkady is way too awesome to lose. I get that he hasn't done much this season, but that's the fault of the writers, not Arkady (and certainly not Lev Gorn).

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Stan Beeman will be too old to work the Wiener investigation, but maybe Philip and Elizabeth will recruit one of his junior colleagues as long-term assets...

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Sent from a phone so their may be speling errors and autocorrect snafu's.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Sent from a phone so their may be speling errors and autocorrect snafu's.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Since Gabriel and Claudia suspect that Mischa is heading to the US, I assume they'll send agents to hunt for him. They can't send Philip and Elizabeth, so we'll need to have some new Directorate S agents introduced if this story is to unfold in front of us. I'm curious to see who will take that job.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Yes, but it was the first episode we've had in a while so it satisfied the need for an episode. It was mostly setup, and I hope it gets more interesting next week.

Sent from a phone so their may be speling errors and autocorrect snafu's.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

Sent from a phone so their may be speling errors and autocorrect snafu's.

"ike Wile E. Coyote salivating over a "4000 Ways To Prepare Roadrunner" cookbook without watching his surroundings, the Road Runner of Societal Inertia snuck up on them both and beepbeeped them off the mesa."
--Shem

JasonL wrote:I think they Tried to Do Something by making us watch the digging of a hole for 10 minutes, but it didn't work. Digging a hole is hard I get it.

Which touches on one of my pet peeve TV and movie conventions: burying fallen comrades anywhere in the middle of nowhere in what appear to be perfect graves, often covered by rocks roughly the same size with the obligatory cross made from two tree branches.

I've dug holes occasionally, say, to plant a bush and, yeah, it's hard work even if you have a pickax or such to break up the ground before shoveling it. Okay, in war movies at least from a certain era there were the standard issue entrenching tools, but where the hell do cowboys get shovels out in the wilderness? How can they manage to dig upwards of a half dozen graves in less time than it takes me to plant a rosebush?

Also, just once I'd like to see one of the dead guys be Jewish so they have to make a Star of David out of twigs for the grave marker.